


Confusing Interactions

by Autumnalhogwarts



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Allison has one line and a couple other characters are mentioned, Friendship, Gen, being of a friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 16:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17491454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumnalhogwarts/pseuds/Autumnalhogwarts
Summary: Neil starts to see Aaron as less of a complete jerk and more of an occasional jerk.





	Confusing Interactions

Walking into the kitchen one morning over summer break Neil saw Aaron sitting at the island drinking coffee

Checking the clock he saw it was only 6:45 am. “Can’t sleep?”

“Nope”

“Nightmares?” Neil asked eyeing him, Aaron glared, “Kaitlyn told me. We can talk about it if you want”

“I don’t want to talk to you” Aaron sneered.

Walking over to grab a cup of coffee he looked cooly at Aaron, not backing down, “That’s fine but you don’t need to be an asshole about it. You can talk to Nicky or Kevin or Andrew then, we all have nightmares”

“Kevin doesn’t, Nicky definitely doesn’t”

Neil rolled his eyes “Nicky has nightmares about conversion therapy he hides it pretty well though, and Kevin does about the nest. Andrew’s are about his childhood, I think, I’m not sure. Mine are about my entire life basically”.

Aaron stared at him confused, gesturing with his hands for him to continue

“Sometimes they don’t bother me, like anything that happened before my mom died is too old to really get to me anymore. If I dream about something happening to me I can usually move on pretty quickly, but god”.

He paused to take a drink of his coffee and rub his face “if I dream about something happening to a fox... or if something fucking happens to Andrew... I can’t get that shit out of my head for days...”

Aaron tried to speak twice, opening his mouth and faltering, before he managed to find his voice when he did speak it was barely above a whisper “Drake, I dream about Drake”.

“Good,” Aaron looked up at him with a shocked face and gasped, “what you saw, what you did, that should bother you. I’d be more worried if it didn’t. The first time you kill someone sticks with you”.

Aaron ran his hands through his hair, pulling when he got to the ends, and let out a shaky breath. Neil walked around the counter and pried his hands out of his hair. Aaron jerked his hands away, tears welling in his eyes, then gently banged his fists on Neil’s chest. After the fourth time, Neil pulled his in and held him tightly.

“You’re okay,” Neil cooed as Aaron cried on his chest, “Andrew’s okay. You saved a lot of children”

As Neil stood holding him Andrew walked in silently. He raised his eyebrow at Neil, a silent question, and grabbed a box of pop tarts. As he walked over to the island he surveyed them both. Neil motioned with his hand for him to come closer and he put the box down as he walked.

“Andrew, come give your brother a hug,” Neil ordered, keeping his voice low.

At the sound, Aaron sat up wiping his eyes and pushed Neil away. He tried to say something but Andrew pulled him into a tight hug, pinning his arms to his side. After a few seconds, Andrew patted him on the back once and let go, walking away like nothing happened.  

Aaron stood up looking confused and unfocused. He turned toward the stairs, shaking his head. “I’m going back to bed, don’t wake me up unless the house is on fire”.

Once he was out of sight Neil walked into the living room, sitting down next to Andrew.

“What’s his problem?” Andrew asked.

“Why don’t you ask him?” Neil challenged, sipping his coffee and looking over the rim of the cup expectantly.

“Not today, try again later”.

The three boys never mentioned the incident again, but Neil's views on Aaron started to change.

* * *

 

Naturally, the season started off rough with a close win and then a rough loss. The third game saw Breckenridge back at the Foxhole Court. While it started off friendly enough it soon got violent, each minute wearing down on the team. Just before halftime number 24 got in Aaron’s face. Neil was too far away to hear what was said, but he was close enough to hear Aaron slam into the plexiglass when 24 threw the first punch.

Allison pulled 24 back before he could get a second punch in and Matt helped her pull him across the court. As the Refs stepped on the court Neil jogged over to assess the damage.

Allison touched his arm as he passed “24 started it, he was throwing slurs at Nicky and when that didn’t work he started threatening to assault him”.

Neil nodded and continued over to Aaron. This was the first time he had ever seen or heard of Aaron standing up for his cousin with regards to his sexuality. He held up his hand in front of Aaron's helmet. “How many fingers?”

“Fuck off I don’t have a concussion,” Aaron said shaking his head to prove his point.

“Then get back in position,” Neil waited for Aaron to move and when he didn’t he added, “Now Minyard”.

After the red card was given Neil jogged over to the other goal and set up his penalty shot. He was allowed to take ten steps to gain momentum, but he swung his racket with moving and scored. The next two minutes were slightly calmer, with the ball staying between the first and third fourths, and no goals scored. Half time started with a score of 7 to 4, foxes in the lead.

As they walked into the locker room Neil jogged over to Aaron and patted his shoulder, “I’m proud of you Minyard”.

Aaron shrugged Neil’s hand off his shoulder, “I didn’t do it for your stupid team”.

“No, you did it for Nicky, that’s why I’m proud of you”.

Aaron’s only reply was to glare at him and grab a cup from Abby.

“If they come after you again I want you to throw the first punch,” Neil said in a low voice leaning in so only Aaron would hear him.

Aaron paused with the cup halfway to his mouth and then lowered it. “If I do that I’ll get a red card”.

“Do you care about getting a red card?” Neil asked, Aaron shrugged in response, “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do what I can to keep you out of trouble with the refs”.

“Whatever,” Aaron said tilting his head and raising an eyebrow, “okay, fine, I’ll see what I can do, but why? Aren’t you supposed to tell me not to punch people?”

“Worry about yourself,” Neil said as he turned to walk away.

7 minutes into the second half of the game Neil scored. In the commotion of the goal Neil saw number 17 say something to Aaron, he started jogging over as the striker leaned in and was halfway there when Aaron punched him in the stomach. The striker doubled over and Aaron stepped away throwing his hands in the air, to show he was not going to fight. Skidding to a halt between the two players Neil asked what happened.

“He threatened Nicky,” Aaron responded with his hands still in the air.

“Put your hands down,” Neil said to Aaron as the refs arrived. He turned to them and quietly informed them this was the second time this match that a Breckenridge player threatened to physically harm Nicky.

In the end, both Aaron and 17 got yellow cards and were sent off the court. Breckenridge got a penalty shot because Aaron threw the first punch, but Andrew easily deflected it. The game ended with a score of 11 to 5, Foxes. By the time they made it into the locker room the celebrations had already started.

Neil grabbed the back of Aaron’s jersey and pulled him to a stop, “You got into a fight so you’re on press duty today”.

Glaring, Aaron turned and marked into the conference room, taking a seat. Neil followed him in and raised a hand when the reporters started asking him questions.

“Before we answer any questions we’d both like to say something about the unfortunate interactions Minyard had with numbers 24 and 17,” Neil said as Aaron turned to him and glared before rubbing his eyes, “Nicholas Hemmick is the First and Only openly Gay player in all of the NCAA and we are all very proud of him. Trash talk is part of the game, however, no one on this team will accept homophobic slurs or threats of violence as part of that. Minyard was acting in defense of that ideal when he got into both altercations he was involved tonight”.

When he finished talking he raised his hand again to ask the reporters to stay silent and turned to Aaron.

He paused to find the right words, trying to match Neil’s diplomatic speech, before leaning into the microphone, “We are a small team and function as a family. Hemmick is my cousin, but I would have defended any member of my team the same way. We have dealt with enough threats of violence, as well as vandalism over the last few years. This year I am done putting up with it”.

“Thank you for your time, we will not be answering any questions. Wilds and Walker will be out momentarily to finish the interview,” Neil said, pulling in the hem of Aaron jersey.

As they walked out of the conference room a series of questions followed them. They kept their eyes forward and nodded at the girls as they walked passed. Once in the safety of the lounge, Neil threw his arm over Aaron's shoulder.

“Hey, Aaron? I’m really proud of you,” he said with one of his rare smiles.

After looking around and making sure they were alone Aaron put his arm around Neil as well. “Thanks, Josten”.     

 


End file.
